France Champagne Poster Pierre Bonnard 1891
In 1891, the French lawyer and painter Pierre Bonnard was commissioned by the Debray Champagne company to create a poster to promote their France Champagne beverage. He was just 24 years of age when he created the bright, lively and bubbly work of art. It was his first commercial work of art for which he was paid 100 francs, about $5,670 in 2020. The successful commission helped him to convince his family that he could make a living as an artist. He gave up his job as a practising lawyer and set up his first studio on Rue Lechapelais, and began his career as an artist.
Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist group of avant-garde painters Les Nabis, his early work was strongly influenced by the work of Paul Gauguin, as well as the prints of Hokusai and other Japanese artists.
Pierre Bonnard and Berthe Schaedlin
This French Champagne poster was originally created by the French artist, illustrator and printmaker Pierre Bonnard. He was just 24 years old and the bright, bubbly poster was his first commercial work of art. The poster depicts a beautiful woman holding a fan in one hand and a champagne glass in the other. The champagne glass is shown overflowing with bubbles that fall to the floor and fill the bottom third of the poster image. The beautiful woman featured in the poster is Bonnard’s cousin, model, muse, and first love Berthe Schaedlin. According to Guy Goffette’s book Forever Nude, it is thought that Bonnard fell so in love with Berthe that he proposed marriage to her. However, the Schaedlin family would only agree if the artist gave up his dreams of being an artist and concentrated on a respectable career. Bonnard refused.
Pierre Bonnard and Marthe de Méligny
From 1893 until her death, Bonnard lived with Marthe de Méligny (1869–1942), and she was the model for many of his paintings, including many nudes. Her birth name was Maria Boursin, but she had changed it before she met Bonnard. They married in 1925. In the years before their marriage, Bonnard had love affairs with two other women, who also served as models for some of his paintings, Renée Monchaty (the partner of the American painter Harry Lachmann) and Lucienne Dupuy de Frenelle, the wife of a doctor; it has been suggested that Bonnard may have been the father of Lucienne’s second son. Renée Monchaty committed suicide shortly after Bonnard and de Méligny married.
The France Champagne poster shows how willing and ready the Debray company was to gamble on a radical new art style, and how, in some ways, the advertising world of 1891 France was more willing to take artistic risks than ad agencies of today.
Bonnard’s poster for “France-Champagne” 1891
With its bold graphics and use of strong yellows and oranges, the original three-colour stone lithographic poster was a vivid, eye-catching poster on the streets of Paris in 1891. It was a huge success. The beautiful Debray Champagne poster launched Bonnard’s professional career.
Simple, curving outlines create the silhouette of the ebullient young woman standing out from a bright yellow background. She is depicted from above appearing as a half-length figure in a flowing dress with a low neckline. Her cascading golden hair curls mimic the dress she is wearing. The poster reads France-Champagne in a beautiful, curvy, flowing hand-drawn lettering typical of the Belle Epoque and Fin de siècle posters of Paris. The poster text continues, E. Debray owner, La Haubette-Tinqueux-lez-Reims. Representatives Office at 8, Rue de L’Isly, Paris.
According to the contributor Shoshone on the Sartle website “Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec having discovered the small initials on the work, demanded to know the identity of this “P.B.,” and became one of Bonnard’s many illustrious artist admirers, both impressed by Bonnard’s artistic vision, and appreciative of his humility. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Signac, Henri Matisse and Georges Rouault also sang Bonnard’s praises”.
Champagne in popular culture
Sparkling wine was first developed in the Limoux region of southern France in 1535. However, it was not until the late 17th century that the wine we now know as Champagne was first produced in the eponymous French region. Champagne wines are made using a technique known as methode champenoise, a method that was perfected by the Benedictine monk Dom Perignon. Today, Champagne is synonymous with luxury and celebration, and its production is strictly regulated by French law. As a result, true Champagne can only be produced in the Champagne region of France. Even so, the methode champenoise has been adopted by winemakers all over the world, meaning that bubbly wines are now enjoyed everywhere from Australia to Argentina.
Champagne became popular with royalty and the privileged classes in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The leading manufacturers made efforts to associate their Champagnes with nobility and royalty through advertising and packaging, which inevitably led to its popularity among the emerging middle class. Successful marketing during the early 19th century helped to firmly establish Champagne’s reputation among the middle class and affluent elite of the time. The wine came to symbolize the “good life” to which all people could aspire. It also brought charges of decadence and indulgence.
George Leybourne was a British singer and music hall entertainer who was extremely popular in the late 1800s. He began making celebrity endorsements for the Champagne maker Moet who commissioned him to write and perform songs extolling the virtues of Champagne. Today he is best known for his song “Champagne Charlie,” which became a huge hit in both Britain and the United States. Leybourne used his success to promote the sparkling wine which with his help became an important social status symbol and was firmly associated with luxury and wealth. It remains so to this day.
Vintage Beers, Wines & Spirits Alcohol Posters
Since the end of the nineteenth century, thousands of alcohol-related posters have been published. We are constantly adding new ones to our website, but we’ve selected ten of our personal favorites from our Food & Drink poster collection for you to look at. Despite the numbering, these appear in no particular order. You know the old adage, you can’t choose between your babies, you love them all equally. Well, that’s how we feel about these vintage alcohol prints.
- Monastine Liqueur de l’Abbaye de St Gratien – Eugene Oge – 1892
- Absinthe Robette – Privat-Livemont – 1896
- Maurin Quina – Leonetto Cappiello
- Anis Infernal – Leonetto Cappiello – 1905
- Porto Ramos-Pinto poster – Rene Vincent – 1920
- Martini Torino – Marcello Dudovich 1930
- Berger 45 Type Marseillais poster – Roland Ansieau – 1935
- My Goodness My Guinness Lion Poster – Gilroy – 1937
- De Venoge Champagne poster – Robert Falcucci – 1939
- Kinagin, le Vermouth au Quina et au Gin – EP – 1941
Posters perfect for your home bar, office, kitchen…
We offer a fascinating collection of reproduction beers, wines & spirits vintage posters all guaranteed to make you merry without you touching a drop. If you’re looking for a poster to brighten up your drinks evenings then this poster will make your home bar complete. All our posters are available in a shot glass (small A5) sizes to pitcher (large A1) sizes, which means there’s one available to fit your space. The colors are vibrant and really stand out and they’re printed on a 300gsm (pretty thick) high-quality silk paper and they’re cheaper than a round of drinks at the bar! They make the perfect statement and will be sure to impress all your friends! Place your drinks poster order today. Cheers!
